[{"content":{"text":"Schell Games' commitment to education is something we live every day; in the products we create, the work environment in the office and the ways we share that knowledge with others.<\/p>Each month, we'll be dissecting a different Lens from The Art of Game Design: A Book of Lenses<\/em><\/a> by our CEO Jesse Schell<\/a>. It's our hope that you use these as you develop your game or are looking to critically analyze what makes someone else's game successful.<\/p>Happy creating!<\/p>"},"id":"66947326-ee18-4902-b74e-cc50208af631","isHidden":false,"type":"textBlock"},{"content":{"location":"kirby","image":["file:\/\/x1tPIzzvYveIa3Ek"],"src":"","alt":"Lens of the Problem Statement","caption":"","link":"","ratio":"","crop":"false"},"id":"60499b77-c827-4364-8750-eeb44703bf5c","isHidden":false,"type":"imageBlock"},{"content":{"level":"h2","text":"The Lens of The Puzzle","customid":""},"id":"df8a755f-c0fa-4ace-ba5f-fe4e238552db","isHidden":false,"type":"headingBlock"},{"content":{"text":"How This Works:<\/strong> Use this Lens (full text below as well) and picture your game at the same time. See how you answer each question and how difficult it is to arrive at these conclusions.<\/p>Repeat and refine until complete - how much different does your potential game look than when you started? Full Text:<\/strong><\/p>Lens 58: The Lens of The Puzzle<\/p>Puzzles make the player stop and think. To ensure your puzzles are doing everything you want to shape the player experience, ask yourself these questions:\u2611\ufe0f What are the puzzles in my game?\u2611\ufe0f Should I have more or less puzzles?\u2611\ufe0f Do I have incongruous puzzles?\u2611\ufe0f How can I better integrate puzzles into my game?<\/p>"},"id":"494b4ed5-1ce9-4e95-bf1c-4530a07f2f42","isHidden":false,"type":"textBlock"},{"content":{"location":"web","url":"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=ZKJUMMCJvGM","video":[],"poster":[],"caption":"","autoplay":"false","muted":"true","loop":"false","controls":"true","preload":"auto"},"id":"c8102534-123e-4d52-8e5a-0f463abb6fc6","isHidden":false,"type":"videoBlock"},{"content":{"level":"h2","text":"Example - Outer Wilds<\/em> (2019)","customid":""},"id":"3872ff84-88ea-4f5f-aea7-400d7fd65bb1","isHidden":false,"type":"headingBlock"},{"content":{"text":"Now, let's try out Lens 58 with a practical, real-world example. This seemed the perfect time to talk about Outer Wilds<\/em><\/a> (Mobius Digital<\/a>\/Annapurna Interactive), the space exploration wrapped in a puzzle box game that got massive acclaim and was the perfect game as video game fans were stuck inside during the pandemic. How does it follow Lens 58?<\/p>SPOILER WARNING: Gameplay elements and locations will be discussed, but not specific solutions to any puzzle.<\/em><\/p>\u2611\ufe0f What are the puzzles in Outer Wilds<\/em>?<\/strong><\/p>The core gameplay loop of Outer Wilds<\/em> is essentially a timed puzzle box, with a galaxy of secrets to uncover as you hop planet to planet. The ingenious catch? A 22-minute time loop limits the amount of exploration and puzzles you can solve in each runthrough, resetting your progress. This leads to a lot of quick thinking of how best to optimize each loop - should the player solve a puzzle they're stuck on? should they explore a whole new planet? should they spend the time just putting the pieces together?<\/p>The puzzles themselves are all adventure\/exploration adjacent. You won't spend time assembling tiles or block-matching. Instead, Outer Wilds puzzles are usually along the lines of \"How do I get there?\" This usually involves combinations of piloting your ship successfully, some light platforming and\/or solving the mechanics of the location to access a new area. <\/p>\u2611\ufe0f Should Outer Wilds<\/em> have more or less puzzles?<\/strong><\/p>There are seemingly hundreds of puzzles spanning the galaxy, which might seem overwhelming at first. However, the addition of an ingenious board in the heart of your ship is extremely fundamental to progression in the game, and lets even the most novice puzzle solvers continue their quests. This board will show which planets have been fully explored and which still have secrets to uncover, making it easy to tackle one puzzle at a time, see how it relates to puzzles already solved, and never lose the overall thread. Be warned, this board does at times spell out exactly what to do, so those who just want to solve for themselves may want to avoid entirely. Regardless, the time loop aspect and multiple runs will quickly tally up your gametime, and most players complete within 20-25 hours. <\/p>What Outer Wilds<\/em> excels at is the understanding of the player experience. There is such a feeling of joy when a new puzzle is solved and the next step of progression is unlocked that even the best pure puzzle games fail to capture. And this is the secret sauce that truly makes Outer Wilds<\/em> a contender when discussing best games of the decade. The end result is more than the sum of its parts, and the synergy of space exploration \/ adventure progression \/ puzzle solving will be a magic combination that other Devs try to recapture for decades to come.<\/p>\u2611\ufe0f Are there incongruous puzzles in Outer Wilds<\/em>?<\/strong><\/p>Puzzles in the Outer Wilds<\/em> follow the definition of Elegance within the Art of Game Design by Jesse Schell. It may take players a few tries to execute successfully, but the game excels in helping players grok what to do next, and never presents the player with an inelegant solution that doesn't fit the rest of the game. In the end, your game should never have players trying to brute force their way through or abandoning to a walkthrough because they are so fed up. It's a huge reason playtesting is so important, and instantly shows that what is obvious to your Dev team may be completely incompatible with how people actually interact with the game.<\/p>\u2611\ufe0f How can I incorporate the lessons of Outer Wilds<\/em> into my game?<\/strong><\/p>If you want to truly appreciate this lesson, I think it's best to pause here, play through some of Outer Wilds<\/em> and consider the lessons of Lens 58 as you do so. How are you presenting your puzzles? What constraints do you place on the player to control how quickly puzzles can be solved? Are playtesters bogged down in puzzles or breezing through them and wanting more? Are there any puzzles the vast majority are getting stumped on? Through Lens 58 and the expert Devs behind Outer Wilds,<\/em> you can make your next project even better!<\/p>"},"id":"71104df5-d942-4deb-8d62-e7c096382dcd","isHidden":false,"type":"textBlock"},{"content":{"location":"web","url":"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=H-yTZFi-_eY","video":[],"poster":[],"caption":"","autoplay":"false","muted":"true","loop":"false","controls":"true","preload":"auto"},"id":"36e79809-6f2b-4fe8-ba2a-c6f025ba7f67","isHidden":false,"type":"videoBlock"},{"content":{"level":"h2","text":"Art of Game Design","customid":""},"id":"ba1a41ff-8a5a-4c0c-b662-065aaa88864d","isHidden":false,"type":"headingBlock"},{"content":{"text":"This is just one quick example of all of the knowledge and expertise contained within The Art of Game Design<\/em><\/a>. Learn more about the book, the 110+ Lenses that come with it and more about CEO Jesse Schell on The Art of Game Design website.<\/p>"},"id":"c653b03c-e5e0-4e58-a721-437a44b77e89","isHidden":false,"type":"textBlock"},{"content":{"link":"https:\/\/schellgames.com\/art-of-game-design","text":"Read More","class":"","id":""},"id":"f8e2ec5f-d0c4-4dbd-9d44-3c1a2199c5ca","isHidden":false,"type":"buttonBlock"},{"content":{"location":"kirby","image":["file:\/\/hgrUEHXj7dodOq7e"],"src":"","alt":"Art of Game Design","caption":"","link":"","ratio":"","crop":"false"},"id":"ff0e26b8-a389-4728-b801-1aeb538e3887","isHidden":false,"type":"imageBlock"},{"content":{"level":"h2","text":"View More Lenses","customid":""},"id":"7abdec0e-02be-4a9e-bf62-9659bedf95ee","isHidden":false,"type":"headingBlock"},{"content":{"text":"All Lenses can also be accessed digitally for no cost. Use the Deck of Lenses<\/a> for inspiration when developing an experience, playtesting, brainstorming, and anything in between.<\/p>"},"id":"7e2626d9-5ed8-41c5-a2a4-f4e706e6e326","isHidden":false,"type":"textBlock"},{"content":{"link":"https:\/\/deck.artofgamedesign.com\/#\/","text":"Deck of Lenses","class":"","id":""},"id":"d03bcccd-2bda-4198-a991-6ff74d982392","isHidden":false,"type":"buttonBlock"}]
